Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez may be dreaming of an eventual UFC "superfight," but he's still got some unfinished business in his own backyard.
That's because newly-minted division number one contender (we think) Jorge Masvidal is expecting to get his shot at the crown after knocking off top 155-pounder K.J. Noons at the "Overeem vs. Werdum" event back on June 18 in Dallas, Texas.
"Gamebred" executed a brilliant technical fight, utilizing a superior all-around game to out-box, out-wrestle and completely out-gun "King Karl." Despite the victory, there are quite a few folks that believe he doesn't stand much of a chance in a prospective match-up against "El Nino."
A "super-confident" Masvidal breaks it all down on yesterday's edition of Pro MMA Radio:
"One thing I can say about Gilbert is he's a cardio freak. He's got crazy cardio he'll fight five rounds like nothing and keep that same pace the whole time and that's impressive. His wrestling's also solid but other than that I don't think he's gonna be able to sit on me for five rounds or outstrike me. He's not much of a submission guy, neither am I, but I don't think he can catch me in a submission either. With a proper training camp, two to three months to prepare for him, I'm gonna hurt Gilbert. He's not gonna beat me standing, he's not gonna take me down. He might get a takedown here and there but I'll pop right back up and I'll keep punishing him. I'm super-confident in my wrestling defensively and my striking."After coming up short in a unanimous decision loss to Paul "Semtex" Daley under the Shark Fights banner, "Gamebred" (22-6) made a successful Strikeforce debut opposite Billy Evangelista back in March, punching his way to a sweep on the judges' scorecards despite a less-than-enthusiastic response from the Columbus crowd.
The Bellator and Sengoku veteran turned that around and staked his claim to the Melendez throne with his impressive win over Noons, a former pro boxer, earlier this month
by Jesse Holland
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